It's happening again...

[boomer]

CRAP - I had a post all done and then hit "Reply to Thread" instead of the "Post Quick Reply" button and lost it all.

OK, here goes version 2.

I've lived with pain for decades. My lower back is toast and my left knee is now steel and Delrin. Pain Management helped me a lot - and only prescribed NORCO ONCE.

They have a lot of tools in their toolbox - including manual stretching (I called it "the rack" - looked like the torture device but decompressed my back and WORKED. . . it's akin to the Teeter dealies. . . you might ask about them), steroidal injections to "blast" the inflammation and get to a more maintainable level, point injections of a numbing agent directly to the place needed . . . they have tools!

It's a common misconception that all they do is prescribe opioids - if they do that, LEAVE.

I had the PM doc help me keep my original knee in a usable condition for SIX YEARS (which is good with knee replacement - I can go into reasons later - and the choice was MINE - and my wife's of course, LOL, as to when it was TIME) and they got my lower back to a place where it spasms fairly rarely and I can do self-maintenance on it. I've got a very cool topical anti-inflammatory that works GREAT, and I can get stretched by that machine if I need, etc.

I would strongly advise at least talking to them and being VERY honest about your misgivings and concerns. If they push opioids on you just blankly . . . walk away. If they want to give you something to get the pain and inflammation levels down to where they can work with it from there . . . consider it. I took some very heavy anti-inflammatories but they were on a scaled dosage - worked GREAT - and then we could maintain it from there. It's REALLY difficult to deal with pain when inflammation is causing MORE pain and MORE tightness and MORE inflammation. . .

Anyway - just my two cents . . . again! LOL

[Phonetek]

LOL I've done that too with the reply button many times.

The place I'm going to in a couple weeks for decompression has that device you're talking about, "the rack". They aren't a PM. I'm not sure if they prescribe meds or not.

I'm not going on a misconception about the opioids at least around here. My wife has been to a half dozen different ones over the years and that's all they did. However now that pot is legal in our state, they are pretty quick to suggest that these days too. They have her the medical card to buy it. My wife has no interest in going that direction smoking stuff. She has tried the gummies and said they do help for the most part but not enough for her to exactly enjoy life. Doctors seem to be all on board with that stuff. I'm interested in neither.

Honestly though, I know part of my problem is things that happen with age. That I can accept. I just don't recall being in pain before I did what I did to cause this. If I was, it was nothing that I cared about. Even if the MRI and X Ray's show otherwise. Another words, obviously something I did caused this, not some biological inevitably. I know this because I was fine, I did something, then I wasn't fine.

Spinal degeneration may be part of the problem but that didn't cause it. I'm not expecting that to get fixed. I just don't want to hear from doctors that it is because it's not correct but that's what they will focus on. I did tweak it just right where that degeneration is exasperating the tweak. I've already been down this road with my wife.

All I want is to get back where I was before I did what I did. Which again, all this happened when I brought a 100 pairs of new house shoes down a bazillion stairs then a week later many cases of new bowling pins. Before that I was perfectly fine, deterioration of the spine and all. I hope I'm able to convince the doctors of this. I have high hopes that the place with the rack can just get things back where they should be and I don't need to depend on doctors Cheech & Chong.

This treatment isn't going to be cheap either. It's not covered by insurance and I'm looking at about 5-6k out of pocket at least. I may be making decent money now but that's still going to significantly hurt us financially. Another reason I hope it works. I'd hate to spend that for nothing.

I also love bowling if nobody has guessed. I wasn't great but I was good. What I refuse to accept is that my best days of bowling are behind me. I'm getting back out there hell or high water! That's why I'm not going to deal with morons who are worried about they're bottom line doing pointless procedures and whipping out the prescription pad as a quick fix because they don't know the right way to fix a problem.

[Phonetek]

I've gone for two of the spinal decompression treatments now, continued with the chiro and will soon start PT. After the first decompression treatment I left at a 9 1/2 on the pain scale. I was not very confident.

Strangely an hour after getting home I said "Uh... Wait a minute... Where is the pain?" I mean I was at a complete zero! I still had the numbness in my fingers but no pain! I went to work, felt great. Came home and finally got a really good night sleep. I woke up and I did have some pain but more like a 4. It's gotten a little bit worse, maybe up to a weak 6.

All and all I can deal with that. Today I went for the second treatment and it's maybe a 2 currently. I really think I'm on to something here. Again, not ready to whip out the bowling balls but still.

I did go with wife to HER pain doctor appointment yesterday. I talked to him about my issue. He said what I'm doing is nothing more than a band aid. He said I need a injection into my spine. I asked "That's The cure?" He said "You'll likely have to get them again every 6 months." I said "Can you explain to me how if it isn't a cure that is not a band aid?" He had no reply.

So let me get this straight... Moving things around to get them back where they are supposed to be isn't a fix but injecting drugs into my nervous system to mask the pain and not changing anything is? SMH

I'll probably do the injection to get the relief it's supposed to give. However I'll continue everything else to get Humpty put back together again. From there I'll just continue exercising, stretching, practice proper posture to keep from getting into this situation again.

[boatman37]

Think I mentioned it earlier but I was skeptical of chiropractors before ever going to one. I hurt my back in 1998 or 1999 at work in the steel mill and they sent me to a chiropractor. Went to him for about 6 months. I kept saying I'd love to live in a house across the street from his office cause I literally walked in like a 90 year old man and walked out 30 minutes later perfectly normal. Problem was I'd go to work the next day and jump in a forklift or front end loader and get out all hunched over again. Fast forward to about 2001 and I injured it again and since then the front of my right thigh has been numb and I get excruciating pain like needles shooting through my thigh if I stand too long. Had an MRI and found 2 bulging disks that are pinching a nerve. They suggested surgery but I told them I can live with it.
But yeah, chiropractors have been great for me.

[J Anderson]

My only experience with anything stronger than aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen was being prescribed Percocet after oral surgery. Took on dose as the anesthetic was starting to wear off and vomited 10 or15 minutes later. That said I understand that there are times when strong pain relievers are needed so a body can get the rest it needs to heal.

It seems really hard to tell if a doctor is really trying to help you or just see how much money he or she can get from your insurance company. My sister in law was once a librarian for a company in the medical industry. What she saw in a few years of employment there completely soured her on traditional western medicine.

[Phonetek]

My only experience with anything stronger than aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen was being prescribed Percocet after oral surgery. Took on dose as the anesthetic was starting to wear off and vomited 10 or15 minutes later. That said I understand that there are times when strong pain relievers are needed so a body can get the rest it needs to heal.

It seems really hard to tell if a doctor is really trying to help you or just see how much money he or she can get from your insurance company. My sister in law was once a librarian for a company in the medical industry. What she saw in a few years of employment there completely soured her on traditional western medicine.

Yeah I don't put it past them. Wife recently got a gel injection in her knee. It did nothing for her. Next appointment doctor said "There was a study that two years ago that the gel injections don't work." I said "Why the hell did you do it then if you knew it wasn't going to work?" He said "Placebo effect." I said "No, or because you knew insurance would cover it, if they wouldn't then you wouldn't have done it for placebo effect." He quickly changed the subject.

I do hate the games some doctors play. They just want you in and out with a quick fix so they can get to the next patient so they can be in and out so they can go home and collect their money. It's hard to weed them out sometimes so you can find one who takes pride in doing their best for people. That's or world today though.

[boomer]

That's interesting.

Prior to my knee replacement, while we were discussing prolonging my "natural" knee, my two orthopedics discussed a lot of things. I'm a research and experimentation kind of guy and work at a college so I have access to a LOT of info that is behind pay-walls and not accessible to a lot of people - which my docs were surprised at. I can speak at least some of the lingo and understand peer review and how much of things work.

So when we discussed some of the gel injections, I was pleased that they discussed the experimental results (which are mixed - some studies say they work, others say they are no better than placebo) and actually recommended against them. Turns out, with ANY "padding" or "reconstruction" therapies, you must keep completely OFF the knee long enough (weeks at least) for the therapy to take effect and have any benefit. . . which isn't really something we humans can easily do. Sigh.

But I was very pleased that they discussed these with me - especially when I told them I was going to bring stuff TO THEM and then take their recommendations. They're the docs. I'm not. My job is to be as knowledgeable as possible so I can discuss. . .

[Phonetek]

That's interesting.

Prior to my knee replacement, while we were discussing prolonging my "natural" knee, my two orthopedics discussed a lot of things. I'm a research and experimentation kind of guy and work at a college so I have access to a LOT of info that is behind pay-walls and not accessible to a lot of people - which my docs were surprised at. I can speak at least some of the lingo and understand peer review and how much of things work.

So when we discussed some of the gel injections, I was pleased that they discussed the experimental results (which are mixed - some studies say they work, others say they are no better than placebo) and actually recommended against them. Turns out, with ANY "padding" or "reconstruction" therapies, you must keep completely OFF the knee long enough (weeks at least) for the therapy to take effect and have any benefit. . . which isn't really something we humans can easily do. Sigh.

But I was very pleased that they discussed these with me - especially when I told them I was going to bring stuff TO THEM and then take their recommendations. They're the docs. I'm not. My job is to be as knowledgeable as possible so I can discuss. . .

They never once mentioned anything about staying off of it. With placebos they have their place. For hypochondriacs and Munchausen's who think there is a problem when there isn't. When you have documented problems from x-ray and MRI that shows an underlying cause and definitive issue is NOT the time to use them. You don't use them when there is an actual legit treatment to fix the problem.

It's awesome you read up and do your research. I haven't done that for what I'm dealing with. I started all this just because it made sense. It still makes sense. I do know eventually my spine will be out of whack. It's a biological inevitability, life just cause it.

But when a guy says moving things back to where they should be is a "Band Aid" but drugs are a fix, I don't need research, just logic and common sense. Now, if he injects a steroid that would reduce inflammation which CAN be a fix provided what caused it is fixed. Otherwise it's just going to get inflamed again when it wears off hence being a Band Aid. That's where I feel everything else I'm doing will be a fix and not a Band Aid.

I personally just think that he's insulted that people who didn't go to school as long as he did are actually able to do more than he can with non-conventional treatments. Patients should be insulted not the doctors.

Bottom line is, I'm feeling better, sleeping good and that's huge. I'm seeing progress and good results. I think a few in more weeks I'll be in a much better place and hopefully able to hit the lanes soon.
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